Friday, February 27, 2009

Luke's Birth

I wanted to post about Luke's birthday, for those of you who are interested. It was such an amazing experience, and so vastly different from my labor and delivery with Eliana.

A contraction woke me up Saturday morning around 7:45 and right away they were about 2-3 minutes apart. I didn't really think much of that, because the same thing happened when I went into labor with Eliana, and that ended up being 6 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing. So this time around, I didn't count on any urgency. I went downstairs with Eliana, who had woken up when she heard me moving around, and made her breakfast and called my doctor. I woke Stu up around 8:30 and told him he should probably get up and take a shower. His sleepy, "why?" quickly changed to wide awake "mission mode" when he saw my face. When he was done and could watch Eliana, call our moms, and finish packing last minute things, I took a shower. Silly me- contractions still 2 minutes apart, but each lasting longer, and I'm taking my time, like I've got all day! I really did think I had all day. :)

My mom arrived around 9:30 to watch Eliana, and we left for the hospital, conveniently two blocks away (I really wanted to walk there, but Stu wouldn't let me. This was a wise choice, in hindsight!). From where we parked our car to getting upstairs to the labor and delivery wing, I had to stop and work through contractions about 5 or 6 times. After checking in (why did I do pre-admission paperwork months earlier if they're still going to have me stand there filling out paperwork with the same questions while having contractions?! Does it matter how tall it am?!), getting settled in the room, hooked up to all the monitors, IV-ed (UGGH!), it was about 10:30. The nurse asked me if I was planning on getting an epidural, which I was hoping to avoid, but wanted to see how things went. I really wanted to be able to labor standing up, which was much more comfortable for me than laying down. So we put off the epidural decision, and they finally checked me, and I was already 9 centimeters! I couldn't believe it! The nurses couldn't believe it either. It was kinda funny. My doctor was on call, so they hurriedly made sure she was on the way. Around 10:45 the doctor came in and after about 4 pushes, Luke Michael made his grand entrance into the world! He was born at 10:59. No time for an epidural, which I am very thankful for because it was so nice to be fully alert and able to experience, and remember, the whole thing. It was truly an amazing experience!

This picture was taken just after he was born, and I think you can read the awe and amazement in my face! I couldn't believe what had just happened! I had never considered that it could all be done and the baby here in just 3 hours! Praise God!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Introducing Luke Michael!

Born after just three hours of labor (it really was quite amazing), Saturday February 21, 2009 at 10:59am, weighing in at 8 lbs 10 oz, 21 inches long...Luke Michael Perkins!

Eliana is one happy big sister!

We're doing well!

More to come later, when I don't have a baby in my arms, making it hard to type. :)

Sunday, February 15, 2009

My little Helper

The other day, Eliana insisted I let her vacuum! This vacuum, which my parents got me for Christmas, is much quieter (so Eliana's not afraid of it!) and easier to maneuver than my old upright that hardly sucked up anything. I actually don't mind vacuuming anymore myself, but I'm still happy to relinquish the chore to Eliana! It'll be great when she really can have this responsibility. I'm all for assigning chores as soon as possible! ;) I'm also looking forward to seeing what a big helper she'll be with her baby brother (who's due date is tomorrow!).

Friday, February 13, 2009

No sign of baby yet...

I measured 36 weeks yesterday at my doctor's appointment instead of 39 weeks, which concerned the doctor, so she had me come back later in the afternoon for an ultrasound. The doctor wanted to make sure that the baby hadn't stopped growing or that I was losing fluids. If so, they'd induce. Thankfully, baby's fine and they say he currently weighs 7lbs 13oz. He's already bigger than Eliana was, born 9 days late weighing 6lbs 8oz. He's pretty squished in there, so it was hard to get a good ultra sound picture, but here he is with his hand in front of his face and apparently a full head of hair...

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Not Fun...

Being pregnant and sick, that is.

Every year, when school starts back in September, I find myself catching cold after cold from my students. But not this year. Not one. I figured it was all those extra vitamins (thanks, baby). I've been so happy about that, and surprised. So it's been a blessing to make it until February before getting any kind of sickness, but why now? A week away from my due date? Anyway, what's really made this cold rough is that I lost my voice completely for a couple of days (it's still not fully returned), and that coincided with Eliana experiencing some temporary hearing loss from an ear infection. Poor girl. "What? What did you say?"...over and over again. And me, with no voice. I'm starting to see the funny side of that now as we're slowly feeling better, but it sure made for a frustrating and tiring week! This picture is of Eliana putting her ear up to her toy so she can hear what sound the letter makes. The toy's really not quiet!

Monday, February 2, 2009

38 Weeks and Bike-Riding

I had some doubts whether that was really a good idea, but I'm not one to worry, and the weather was great today, 60's, so I took the opportunity to get some much needed exercise. It felt so good to get outside and take Eliana for a bike ride to the park, and we both had fun. I've had a bit more aches, pains and swelling with this pregnancy than I did with Eliana, and I'm sure some of that can be attributed to my being three years older and my body having gone through all of this once before, but I bet even more of it is that I have been terribly lazy, in an exercise-sense, throughout this pregnancy. The more I can sit and put my feet up the better! I've regretted that. I was still going to the gym and jogging during the first 7 or 8 months of being pregnant with Ellie. My gym-attendance became non-existent after Eliana was born, and I've never made it back. I've stayed pretty active in other ways (not hard with an active toddler), but I haven't made any effort to exercise during this pregnancy. I'm a little worried about how that will effect my labor/delivery and recovery (meaning when I'll get back into my old clothes!). I guess I'll just wait and see...